Then they signed 6-foot-6 forward Dakarai Allen, a four-star prospect whose stock is rapidly rising during his senior season at Sacramento’s Sheldon High.

“We don’t really care about that,” said Von Allen, Dakarai’s father. “We don’t get caught up in that. We just wanted my son to go a place where he can grow and thrive.”

Stability

On the surface, it appears the Mountain West is the more secure of the two options as one school after another leaves the Big East or admits it is trying to.

But consider this: The reworked revenue-sharing arrangement could split the conference into a single have and a bunch of have-nots. How long are the New Mexicos and UNLVs going to watch Boise State make three, four, five times as much money each year before they rebel?

Remember, the Mountain West was formed in 1999 as a spinoff from the Western Athletic Conference. Who’s to say a similar power play doesn’t happen again? Or that the ever-shifting sands of conference realignment don’t eventually swallow Mountain West teams like they have in the Big East?

There are also the potential moral issues of joining a conference where the more you win in football, the more money you get, and the more money you get the better chance you have of winning. It creates a temptation to cut corners, to sacrifice your university’s academic integrity at the altar of the almighty dollar. To cheat.

Doesn’t mean it will happen. It does mean that the incentive exists, or at least more than in a conference that divides revenues evenly. History tells us it’s a slippery slope.